Windhorse Publications

Windhorse Publications is a Buddhist charitable company based in the UK. They seek to produce accessible and relevant books of high quality for all those interested in Buddhism at whatever level. They are the main publisher of Sangharakshita, the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order. They seek to draw on the whole range of the Buddhist tradition, including translations of traditional texts, commentaries, biographies of Buddhists, and works on meditation.

Product Description

Details

Anālayo offers an inspiring biography of the Buddha based on the early discourses and focusing on his meditative development and practice. By focusing on the Buddha as a meditator, Anālayo seeks to provide inspiration and guidance to all meditators, of any tradition and of any level of experience. Each of the twenty-four chapters concludes with suggestions to support meditative practice.

The Buddha's life story provides an implicit support for one of the most important of early Buddhist meditation practices, the contemplation of the Buddha. Anālayo's highly original approach to the familiar story is to present his material in the form of an explicit guide to this practice, laid out in 24 stages, which follow what we know of the Buddha's own meditation practice. Anālayo brings his formidable scholarship to elucidating what this consisted in, drawing on discourses preserved in Pali and Chinese that have a reliably early provenance. The extremely useful exercises with which each chapter concludes ground the scholarship in a fervent awareness of the goal, represented by the Buddha, which we should always have in mind in our own practice. - Jinananda, author of Warrior of Peace: The Life of the Buddha

An inspiring guide that will accelerate the reader's own journey of awakening. Highly recommended, and sure to inspire dedicated meditators! - Shaila Catherine, author of Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity

In this work, Bhikkhu Anālayo applies his consummate knowledge of the textual collections of Early Buddhism to the task of constructing a biography of the Buddha that focuses on his life as a meditator. The book not only paints a very human picture of the Buddha's life, but through the exercises attached to each chapter it enables the reader to join the Buddha on his quest for enlightenment and beyond, into his mission as a teacher and through to his parinirvāṇa or passing away. While offering a scholarly portrait of the Buddha, this book is also a testament to the overarching unity of the various early Buddhist schools in their conception of the Buddha's life, a unity that coexists along with a rich diversity in their detailed narrations about particular events in that life. - Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi